Tottenham v Crystal Palace: Preview, predicted line-ups & team news

Tottenham spent the opening weeks of the season looking like a side that had mislaid the instructions.

They went winless in their first six league games, drawing blanks at Nottingham Forest and against Everton along the way, and the mood around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was getting restless.

Then came a 3-1 win over Coventry and a 2-0 victory at Chelsea, and suddenly the noise has changed.

Spurs now have the chance to make it three league wins in a row for the first time this term.

Standing in the way are Crystal Palace, who arrive in a spot of bother of their own and with their head coach, Pierre Sage, under some scrutiny after back-to-back defeats.

Tottenham's recovery has been built on a bit of stubbornness rather than fireworks.

They have scored eight goals in eight league games, an average of exactly one per match, and failed to score in four of them.

However, they have kept three clean sheets, and their 60.9% average possession over those games shows they are usually the ones dictating the tempo.

They sit 14th on nine points, which is a long way from where they want to be, but a good deal better than where they were a fortnight ago.

The home record is the part to watch, because it is only one win in four at their own ground this season, with six scored and seven conceded in the league table's home column.

That is hardly the form of a fortress, even if the confidence is now heading in the right direction.

Crystal Palace are 17th on seven points and have lost five of their eight league games.

The damage is mostly at the back, where 19 goals conceded is the second-worst return in the table of the sides we can see, and a 5-0 defeat at Brighton last time out on the road did little for morale.

A 2-0 home loss to Newcastle followed last Sunday, so Palace come to north London having gone 180 minutes without scoring.

However, there is a spark to be found.

Palace beat Nottingham Forest 3-1 earlier this month and their recent xG of 1.38 a game is actually higher than Tottenham's 1.03, which suggests the attack is not as toothless as the scoreline suggests.

They are only a point above the bottom three, so every game now carries a little extra weight.

Across their last eight league games Tottenham have won two, drawn three and lost three, while Crystal Palace have won two, drawn one and lost five.

The raw split favours the hosts, and the direction of travel does too, with Spurs unbeaten in their last two and Palace beaten in their last two.

However, the surface form does not tell the full story, because Palace's two wins both came with goals (3-2 at Fulham and 3-1 against Forest) while Tottenham's recent wins have come through tighter, more controlled displays.

It is a contrast between a side grinding out results and one that tends to live or die by how many it concedes.

Tottenham are 14th with nine points from eight games, a goal difference of minus two, and sit two points clear of Palace.

They are one point behind Hull, Everton and Ipswich in 10th to 12th, but six adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool, so a win would nudge them up the pack without changing the broader picture.

Crystal Palace are 17th with seven points from eight and a goal difference of minus 10, the worst in the division.

Nottingham Forest, in 18th, have six points, so Palace have a cushion of just one point over the relegation zone.

Every side has played eight games, so there are no games in hand to muddy the water.

A Palace defeat would leave them looking over their shoulder in earnest, while a Tottenham win would put clear daylight between the two sides.

Tottenham have won six of the last 10 Premier League meetings and Crystal Palace four, with none drawn.

The average is 2.6 goals per game, 60% of those games have gone over 2.5 goals and only 30% have seen both teams score.

The last meeting was a 3-1 Palace win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 5 March 2026, and Palace also won 2-0 at the same ground in May 2025.

Spurs did take the reverse fixture 1-0 at Selhurst Park on 28 December 2025.

There is a clear lean in the pattern, because these games tend to be decided by a clean margin, with a winner emerging every time and plenty of 1-0 and 2-0 scores along the way.

Palace have won both of the last two visits to this ground, which should keep Spurs honest, but their defensive numbers this season are a long way from those sides.

The low BTTS rate of 30% is worth noting, although Palace's 19 conceded suggests Tottenham are likelier to score here than in most of those previous meetings.

The biggest gap is at the back.

Palace have conceded 2.38 goals a game over their last eight, against 1.25 for Tottenham, and their xG against is much higher than the 1.23 for the hosts.

The second gap is the ball itself, because Spurs average 60.9% possession to Palace's 44.6%, and that territory turns into corners, with 6.5 a game for Tottenham against 3.63 for Palace.

The third is less flattering for the hosts.

Tottenham score only 1.0 goals a game, a shade below Palace's 1.13, so it is a case of whether Spurs can turn all that possession into something sharper.

If they do, the numbers say Palace will struggle to cope.

Palace have played a 3-4-2-1 in all eight games and are unlikely to change now.

Tottenham: Kinský; Porro, Senesi, van de Ven, Udogie; Tonali, Mateus Fernandes; Kudus, Marmoush, Sávio; Solanke.

Crystal Palace: Henderson; Richards, Canvot, Disasi; Mingueza, Lerma, Wharton, Chilwell; Pino, Kamada; Mateta.

Kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is at 5.30pm UK time (17:30 GMT) on Saturday 31 October.

The match is shown on Sky Sports where selected, so if you have a subscription that is the place to look first.

As it is not a 3pm kick-off, it is not subject to the UK television blackout.

The strongest angle on this card is simply the gulf at the back.

Palace have shipped 19 goals in eight league games and Tottenham have scored in four of their last six home and away fixtures, which makes a home win with at least a couple of goals the most natural story.

The low H2H BTTS rate gives pause on that market, but the current defensive numbers say this is a different Palace.